Ignorance is the path to knowledge
“The greatest obstacle to discovery is not ignorance – it is the illusion of knowledge.” –Daniel Boorstin
The Ignoraromancer understands that knowledge is the pinnacle of what humanity can attain, and that ultimately humanity can never know anything for certain. Ignoraromancers believe, like in the tale of Socrates, that those who are wise are those who know that they do not know.
It is ignorance that allows a person to grow the most. In conversations those who feel they know are unable to hear the other side, and in classes those who feel they know don’t pay attention. Knowledge has become a plague for humanity; the more people learn the more their viewpoint becomes limited.
Knowledge has become more and more the roadblock in the way of progress. Science has shown that young people learn more quickly than the old, but science doesn’t understand the truth behind the curtain: it is ignorance that allows for learning. Wars, violence, anger… all these things come from those who know the truth or the answers.
Ignoraromancers don’t know the truth; they don’t have the answers. They aren’t even sure that their path is the right path, and yet in their pursuit of knowledge they must continue to walk it.
The paradox for Ignoraromancers is that all knowledge requires ignorance. In order to learn you must first not know, and thus Ignoraromancers have learned to forget in order that they might learn.
Ignoraromancer Blast Style: Ignoraromancers have no blast.
Stats
Perhaps the most interesting aspect about Ignoraromancy is that the adepts have learned to even control their own bodies through their paradox. Some believe that this is because of physical manifestations of ‘knowledge’ such as muscle memory and the brain’s reaction time.
Generating charges in Ignoraromancy is a self-consuming process. Many adepts have been known to reduce themselves to wasted shells in an attempt to raise themselves to new heights.
Generate a Minor Charge: Give up two skill points
Generate a Significant Charge: Give up two stat points
Generate a Major Charge: Permanently reduce a stat by 30 and lose at least 60 points of skills associated with that stat.
Taboo: Attempting to instruct someone regarding any of your skills. Ignoraromancers are excellent listeners, but violate their belief if they attempt to tell someone else ‘the way it is.’
Random Magick Domain: The unknown, willfull ignorance
Starting Charges: 3 Minor Charges
Minor Formula Spells
Adaptation
Cost: 1 Minor
Effect: Your willing sacrifice of knowledge enables you to learn something new. Instantly gain 1 skill point in an area of your choice. This cannot to applied to your magic skill.
Magical Adaptation
Cost: 2 Minor
Effect: Like Adaptation, but it can be applied to your magic skill.
Ignorance is Bliss
Cost: 2 Minor
Effect: Your target forgets what he’s doing for a moment and a sense of peace washes over him. The target forgets for one round, but the sense of calm lasts for a number of rounds equal to the number on the tens die.
The Path to Knowledge
Cost: 1 Minor
Effect: Your target takes a -20% shift on the next skill roll that falls under a stat you specify. The target then gains a +10% shift to the next three rolls related to that stat.
Significant Formula Spells
Holistic Adaptation
Cost: 1 Significant
Effect: Your willing sacrifice enables you to grow in new ways. Instantly gain 1 stat point in an area of your choice.
Know it All
Cost: 1 Significant
Effect: Your target believes that he has the answers to every question, even subjects he knows nothing about. In the areas the subject has a skill under 15%, he will actually have a complete opposite understanding. This lasts for ten minutes for each significant charge spent.
Example: George has just had Know it All cast on him as he attempts to pick a lock, something he’s never done before. George is sure that the best way to pick a lock is to kick the door down (or call someone with the key, or something equally ridiculous to the situation) and won’t let anyone dissuade him.
Fear from Ignorance
Cost: 3 Significants
Effect: A lack of understanding can often lead to great fear which unhinges the mind. Your target automatically fails a stress check in the area he has the most failed points. If it is equal, it is the target’s choice.
Adapt Others
Cost: 1 Significant
Effect: By draining yourself of knowledge, you manage to impart it upon another. Your target gains 2 skill points to a skill of your choice.
Major Effects
Gain the ability to completely reallocate all of your points, and completely rearrange the way you look and what age you are.
Thoughts, criticisms, suggestions, balance issues all welcome. It was just an idea I had and I haven’t spent time particularly tweaking it. Thanks!
I forgot to say that Ignoraromancers are unable to change any type of charges into any other.
Nor should you have to – I can’t see anything that suggests they could break that rule.
I can’t find it in the rulebook right now, but I seem to remember a rule allowing adepts to break a significant charge into 10 minor charges. That would have let Ignoraromancers trade 2 stat points for 5 skill points.
You should probably also rule that Adapt Others doesn’t work for magickal skills, otherwise an Ignoraromancer could make an adept go wonky by giving them a second magickal school.
It’s under the Law of Transaction or whatever. I looked it up because it was bothering me. 1 Sig = 10 Minor, 1 Major = 10 Sig.
Ashwood, good point. I forgot to change it for Adapt Others.
I really think this is a bit to meta to work as a school. Number-juggling on the charsheet doesn’t have the same visceral impact as actually having to DO something to charge up. Plus it makes it really hard to explain in-game. Plus the taboo makes it a bitch to learn. Plus… forgetting for me always was about memories, not skills.
The school is fine for NPCs but it might not have much appeal for player characters since the adept would get weaker with each play session while everyone else’s characters would be getting stronger.
Possible changes:
Charging: Ignoraromancers gain their insight by experiencing the world with new eyes. They travel to a strange place and voluntarily forget themselves (temporary amnesia) for a period of time. 3 hours for a minor charge, 3 days for a significant one. The adept needs to interact with the world to get their charge, so spending the entire time sitting in a hotel room watching tv gains them nothing. A charging Ignoromancer instictively knows this and will have an urge to go exploring whatever enviornment they find themselves in.
Taboo : If the adept runs into a familiar person or place while charging, he immediately regains his memory and loses his charges.
Minor charges let the adept play with memories and skills on a temporary basis.
With significant charges they can make permant changes.
1 Sig translates into 2 skill points or 1 point in either Mind or Soul.
2 Sigs can erase a failed or hardend notch on a madness meter.
Addendum: While charging the Ignoraromancer experiences the world with childlike wonder, not panicked confusion. Just thought I should make that clear 🙂